


Prized Friend

by Fire_Bear



Series: Klance Month 2019 [18]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Childhood Friends, Children, Ferris Wheels, Fluff, Fun fair, Klance Month 2019, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 09:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20468735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Keith and his family have gone to the fair with his best friend and his parents. They're having a lovely time when the boys decide to win each other prizes...





	Prized Friend

**Author's Note:**

> It turns out I'm not that good at writing children... ^^"

Lights shone on the crowded world around them, flicking between every different colour possible. People were all around, adults and children alike. Toys and games stood upon stalls while children shrieked with laughter. There were whirring noises from above as big kids’ rides spun overheard, cut-off screams reaching his ears. The scents of different foods weaved their way through the crowd and around the group he was with: hot dogs and chocolate and doughnuts. Brightly coloured cotton candy bobbed in protective bags, either hung from food stalls or carried by children and their parents. A Ferris wheel towered over the fair, the only thing taller than the trees in the woods beyond.

Keith’s hand was in his mother’s as they wandered through the cluster of stalls they had found themselves in. His father was holding the candy they had bought for later so that Keith didn’t get sick - not that he wasn’t old enough to know when to stop eating chocolate and lollipops. He was ten after all.

Beside him was his best friend with his parents. He had stopped pouting about having his own sweets taken from him a while ago, chattering about everything he still wanted to do before their parents dragged them away. His blue eyes shone, wide and bright, just like they usually were. They always baffled Keith; he was confused as to why they were always so full of life and the way they lit up when Keith found him. Soft, brown hair had fallen from its carefully combed style and had ended up as dishevelled as normal. He was shorter than Keith at the moment and Keith was anxious that someone would step on him when in these sorts of crowds. It was why he was keeping so close to Lance, uncaring if he tugged his mother around too much.

“Well, kiddos,” said Keith’s dad, grinning down at them. “What d’ya want to do now?”

“I wanna play a game,” said Lance, pointing to a stall that had a row of ducks bobbing along a small stream of water, waiting to be hooked.

Their parents slowed. “You want to do that one?” Mrs. McClain asked.

“Hmm,” said Lance, looking around. Then Lance’s eyes lit up and he pointed. “There!” he exclaimed. “That one.”

Keith turned to look. It was one of those stalls with the hoops that you had to throw and attempt to hook over the little wooden poles. And, above them, hung large stuffed animals - including a pink hippo. Eyes widening, Keith nodded. “Yeah, that one!”

“I saw it first!” Lance protested, narrowing his eyes at Keith.

He nodded at his friend. “Yeah,” Keith said, calmly. “You can get first shot.”

Lance beamed at him, the sight making Keith’s heart skip a beat from the delight he always felt when he saw it, knowing he had caused it. Then, before any of them could move, Lance grabbed Keith’s hand, let go of his father’s, and darted through the crowd. Keith glanced over his shoulder to make sure the adults were following them and, when he was reassured, sped up to reach the stall at the same time as Lance. His friend leaned on the stall, looking over the prizes and the challenge.

“Hey, kids,” said the gruff man behind the stall. The man’s beard was braided and his long hair was as well, visible where it was draped over his shoulder. “Five bucks for five hoops. Three on the poles to win.”

“I’m going first!” Lance declared, barely paying attention to his parents handing over the money.

The man handed over the hoops. “Good luck,” he muttered and stood back.

For at least a minute, Keith watched as Lance sized up the targets and the weight of the hoops. It was fascinating, seeing Lance concentrate, his usual grin gone. His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth. Those blue eyes were laser focussed and intense which never failed to make Keith feel a strange thrill.

Then, Lance flung his first hoop. It soared through the air and, with a rattle, landed cleanly over the hoop furthest from them. Keith’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Lance celebrated his success with a whoop. He turned to grin at Keith.

“My cousins have one of these,” he explained. “I’ve had _ plenty _ of practise.”

Keith grinned. “You’re gonna win.”

“Yup!”

Lance threw the other two with the same deliberation and focus as the first one. Both of them landed on top of the first. Both of them cheered. Lance even turned, grabbed Keith and drew him into a fierce hug. Keith was quick to wrap his arms around Lance, bearing with him as Lance bounced and shook him.

“Okay, kid,” said the man. Lance let Keith go and drew away. He was still close enough for Keith to leave his arm around him, so he did so, waiting to see which of the toys Lance would choose. “You won one of the big ones. Go ahead and pick one.”

Without any hesitation, Lance raised his hand and pointed right at the pink hippo. “That one!” he cheerfully declared.

Keith’s eyes widened and his heart sank. There were no other hippos on the stall and he didn’t want to upset Lance by asking for it. So, as the man began to untie the hippo, Keith looked away, then down at his feet. He wasn’t sure he wanted to try the game now…

Suddenly, something was being shoved into his chest, the colour pink obstructing the view of his well-worn sneakers. Startled, he looked up to find Lance beaming at him, the hippo held out. “I won this for you!” Lance declared.

Unable to take his eyes off him, Keith felt his heart swell. Lance was always doing this to him, surprising him with a kind act here and a compliment there. It made Keith feel warmth spread, enjoyable and sweet. So, slowly, he reached up and gripped the hippo, pulling it from his chest so he could see the toy’s face. When he glanced up, Lance was watching him, a fond smile on his lips. Keith buried his own smile into the hippo as he hugged it tightly: he wasn’t going to let this go for the rest of the night.

“Thank you,” Keith murmured. Lance heard him and grinned, reaching out to take hold of his hand, his fingers curling around his.

“Are you having a go, Keith?” asked his dad, smiling down at him.

For a moment, Keith stared at the stall, looking at the hoops he knew he wouldn’t be as good at throwing as Lance was. Then he ran his eyes over the prizes. None of them were any good, so he shook his head. “I wanna do another one.”

“Which one?”

Keith shrugged and looked at the other ones. Most of them were throwing ones and the only one that wasn’t was the hook a duck. That was way too lame to impress Lance, so he shrugged. “I don’t wanna do any of _ these_.”

His father chuckled. “Will we go find the right one, then?”

“Yeah,” said Keith with a nod.

They moved away from the stall, Lance holding Keith’s free hand. His other hand was in his mother’s as they wandered along. With every stall they passed, Lance pointed at it with his mother’s hand still in his and asked if Keith wanted to do it. Keith shook his head, unsatisfied by the prizes. Finally, he spotted the perfect thing and risked losing his hippo by pointing at it.

“That one!” he exclaimed, pulling Lance towards a test of strength. The target was pretty tall and there were different levels of prizes based on how high the little ball-thing went. A heavy hammer was propped against it, waiting for someone to use it. Beside it was a stall filled with all kinds of toys and prizes. But, what made it perfect, was the large, blue shark toy they had. It was the perfect prize to win for Lance in return for the hippo.

“Ooh, cool!” Lance cried, speeding up so they could jog side by side.

The man at the game had on some sort of floppy hat and had patches of facial hair over his chin. His bored expression didn’t change as he saw the two of them come to a stop in front of him. “Five bucks a go,” was all he said in a bored voice.

Keith glanced at his parents and they handed over the money. Lance squeezed Keith’s hand for luck and stepped back. For safe-keeping, Keith handed the hippo to his father who took it solemnly and hugged it protectively to his chest. With a nod to let his father know he was appreciated and a proud grin in Lance's direction, Keith took hold of the hammer and lifted it. Or, at least, he tried to. It was heavier than he had expected and he grimaced as he staggered and had to drop it back to the ground. Embarrassed, he looked up to see Lance’s sparkling eyes watching him, waiting, looking as though he anticipated Keith winning.

Determination flooded him and Keith took hold of the hammer again. Straining against its weight, Keith managed to heft it off the ground. He staggered towards the button he had to hit and, with all of his strength, he practically threw it at it. With a thud, it landed a little off-centre. Worried, Keith looked up, eyes wide as the little metal bit soared upwards - and stopped halfway to the top. His heart sank.

“You get the third tier prize, kid,” said the man with disinterest. He pointed to the table and a collection of cheap board games and small soft toys and small plastic things. Above his hand was the shark, but it was clearly not included in the winnings.

“I-I- Mom! I wanna ’nother try!”

His mother frowned at the stall. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, darling,” she said, kindly. “Why don’t we find somewhere that’ll have a better game and better prizes?”

“_No_!” Keith protested, folding his arms and trying hard not to stomp his foot. “I wanna go again!”

There was a tugging on his arm that made Keith look around to find Lance’s hand at his elbow. “Come on, Keith. I wanna go on a ride.”

Keith blinked at Lance, his eyes drawn to his face. The smile Lance was wearing had become kind and sweet, the sort he had when he was patiently helping Keith getting over his nerves for oral presentations in school. It was also used when Keith had lost a game of soccer, even with Lance cheering him on. Keith’s chest hurt: Lance wanted the shark, but he was going to forget about it in order to cheer Keith up.

What sort of horrible friend was he?

Fists clenched, Keith turned to his mom once more. “I wanna try again!” he demanded, stomping his foot this time.

“_No_, Keith,” said his mom, sternly. Her frown was deep and Keith knew that he couldn’t change her mind. Now, he looked weak _ and _ he was going to be told off. His eyes began to itch as held back the tears he knew were coming. If his parents saw him crying over this, they’d definitely sit him down to talk when they were home, and he didn’t want Lance to see him like that, either.

So, not waiting for anyone to say anything else, Keith turned on his heel and ran into the crowd. He didn’t pay attention to where he was going, as long as it was _ away_. People bumped into him and he heard people calling out after him, but he didn’t listen. There was so much noise and so many people around that Keith wasn’t even sure if he was moving very far. Then, all of a sudden, something grabbed hold of his wrist and jerked him to a stop. Startled, Keith whipped around to see who was holding onto him.

Lance’s wide eyes were the first thing he saw, the blue irises shining in the neon lights. Keith froze, unsure what to do. Fortunately, Lance did, and he pulled him over to the side of the thoroughfare, between a hot dog stand and a darts game. “Where are you going?” he asked, sounding a little hurt.

“I… just-” Keith tugged at his tight grip, trying to get free.

“You didn’t need to go.”

“Didn’t wanna be there.”

“Why not?” asked Lance, clearly unaware of Keith’s troubled mind.

“I…” Keith shrugged, lowering his gaze to his feet. He scuffed the toe of his shoe against his the ground, watching the dirt shift.

“Keith, come on. Let’s go ba-”

“No!” Keith exclaimed. “I can’t go back!”

“Why not?”

“I… I’m not strong enough.”

When Keith looked up at Lance’s silence, he found Lance frowning at him. He didn’t look confused or annoyed - rather, he seemed to be thinking. Keith watched him for a while, waiting for Lance to agree or dismiss what he'd just said. Then, expression clearing, Lance caught hold of Keith's hand. “Come with me. I wanna go on a ride. Then we can go back, 'kay?”

“I don't wanna go on a ride,” Keith feebly protested, even as he followed Lance through the crowd. He didn't _ deserve _ to go on a ride.

“Come _ on_,” Lance insisted, squeezing Keith's hand. Fond warmth swept through Keith, sweeping aside his anger, and he resigned himself to doing as Lance asked.

* * *

Keith watched as Lance used his emergency phone. His parents always made him take the phone whenever they went out in case they were separated. At the moment, they were in a queue, so Lance had let go of Keith's hand to type out a message to his parents. Keith hadn't taken the phone his parents had offered, telling them that he'd never leave Lance's side. They had 'aww'ed at him for that, but they'd taken his word. 

And then he'd broken it.

Feeling guilty, Keith looked up at the ride they were going on. Then again, Keith wouldn't have called it a ride and he doubted that anyone else would. The massive wheel towered above them, its small cabins enclosed for privacy. Keith didn't know why Lance wanted to go on it, but it didn't look all that fun or exciting, like Keith had expected. Up and down the line, big kid couples were clinging to each other. He didn't know what to make of that, but a few girls were giggling at them from behind.

“Are we allowed on this?” Keith asked.

“Uh huh,” Lance replied, hitting a button on the phone and slipping it back into his pocket. He looked at Keith with a bright smile. “We'll be able to see the _ whooooole _ fair from up there.”

Ahead of them, the operator stopped the wheel and let two girls off. Their tops were a little messy and their cheeks were red, but they were soon lost to the crowd and another couple climbed in. Then the wheel started moving again. Now there was only one couple in front of them.

“Don't you wanna go on something else?” asked Keith, suspicious of the amount of couples around.

“Hmmm,” Lance tapped a finger against his chin, a habit he probably picked up from his father. Keith raised an eyebrow. “The ghost train!” Lance declared. “I wanna go on that. _ After_.”

Sighing, Keith stepped forward as the next couple climbed into the car. “Fine.” A sign caught his eye and he grimaced. “Do you have any money?”

“Yup!” said Lance, grinning when Keith turned to him in surprise. “I've got ema- emergey- emergency money.”

“You can't use that,” Keith protested.

“Yeah, I can. And this _ is _ a emergen-ency.”

“No, it's not.”

“It is!”

“Hey,” said a kind voice, catching their attention. They turned to find the operator looking at them with an amused smile. His hair was thick and stuck up on either side of his head. “Are you going on this?” he asked.

“Yes!” said Lance, before Keith could say anything. Without hesitation, Lance plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out his money. He held it out to the operator, who counted the money, placed some of it in the pouch he had strapped to his waist, and handed a large amount of it back to Lance. Grinning at Keith, Lance shoved the money back where it came from. “See?” he whispered to Keith, loud enough for him to hear with the noise around them. “It's fine.”

Rolling his eyes, Keith shrugged a shoulder. “Fine.”

The operator stopped the wheel again, this time letting off a man and a woman. Both of them were glowing with happiness and the woman even giggled as he led her away by her hand. Turning back to them, the operator gestured at the cabin. “Your turn, kids,” he said.

Eagerly, Lance ran up the steps and jumped into the compartment. Keith followed, a little warily, glancing behind him when he heard more giggling from the women there. However, he wasn't going to let Lance beat him on courage, so he climbed the steps and clambered into the car. He slipped into the seat opposite Lance, who was already looking out the window. The door was slammed closed, the latch clicked, and the operator yanked on the door to make sure it held. Then he turned back to his control panel and pressed a button.

With a little jerk, they were lifted into the air. Keith watched Lance press himself against the window as he knelt on the seat, looking all around. He had a delighted smile on his face. Keith couldn't see his eyes, but he knew that they were wide and sparkling with joy. Keith squirmed in his seat, wondering if Lance had forgiven him for failing so badly.

Sighing, Keith turned to the window and looked out. He had to admit that it was amazing. Coloured lights spread out below him. Hundreds of ant-like people swarmed around the fair. In the distance, he could just make out the rows and rows of cars, waiting for their owners.

Then, just as they reached the top, the wheel jerked to a stop. Alarmed, Keith looked over to Lance to find him grinning at him. Without a care in the world, Lance stood, crossed the cabin in a single, large step, and threw himself into the seat beside Keith. The cabin shook, but Lance ignored it to ask, “It's cool, right?”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, smiling at him.

“And it's quiet...”

Keith blinked at him, noticing that Lance's smile had dropped into something more understanding. “Uh huh?” he said.

“So, you gonna tell me why you ran away?” Lance asked, gentle in both words and expression.

Still, Keith scowled at him. “I already told you – I'm not strong enough.”

“'Cause of the game?”

“Yeah,” Keith grumbled.

“Why? Don't matter if you win or not,” Lance said, poking Keith's side. Keith slid away from him a little.

“I... wanted to win a prize for _ you_,” he explained, staring at the empty seat across from him. “The shark.”

There was a silence, broken only by the distant screams from the rides below them. Keith waited for a while, waiting for a response, but none came. Eventually, he looked over and found Lance staring at him with eyes that were wider than before. Keith always thought they were beautiful like that, especially with the bright blush on his cheeks. They stared at each other in silence until the wheel began to move again.

“Really?” Lance whispered.

Keith nodded. “Really. You... You got me the hippo, so...”

Lance beamed. “Thank you, Keith!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms around him, making Keith slide down in his seat. Keith squirmed under him but Lance only held him tighter. “You're the bestest, _ bestest _ friend ever!”

“But... But I didn't win it,” Keith protested. Unsure what to do with his hands, he let them fall naturally to Lance's sides, his touch light for fear of hurting him.

“So? You still tried!”

“I failed.”

Finally, Lance pushed himself away to look Keith in the eye, though he kept his arms around him; in turn, Keith kept his hands where they were. “Don't do that. Nobody fails,” Lance said, firmly. “And, anyway... Even if you don't win, I'd rather be with _ you _ than the shark.”

“But your favourite animal's a shark,” Keith mumbled, looking down at their laps.

“So?” Lance demanded, tightening his grip on Keith.

Happiness filled Keith. He'd thought Lance would be disappointed in him or angry that he'd wasted his time winning the hippo. But Lance was still his friend and he was happier than he'd ever been before. He was so happy that he couldn't think of anything to say except, “Oh.”

Lance laughed, bright and cheerful once again. “Then, when we get off, let's go win the shark – together.”

“Together?”

“Together,” Lance confirmed with a nod of his head. “We'll be able to beat it if we _ both _ lift the hammer.”

Keith felt his lips turn up in a delighted smile. “Yeah.”

Giggling, Lance hugged Keith close. “Don't worry. I'll always be there for you.”

“Really?” asked Keith, surprised. For some reason, he'd never truly believed that Lance would want to stay with him. Something deep within told him that Lance would find another best friend at some point, just like Taka had.

“Of course!” Lance exclaimed, pulling back again. “I promise; I won't leave you alone.”

Pleased, Keith let go of Lance with one hand and held out his pinky. “Promise?” he said, grinning.

Hooking his pinky around Keith's, Lance pulled a face. “This is a _ bigger _ promise,” Lance told him. “We gotta do a mama-papa promise.”

“What's that?” asked Keith with a frown. He'd never heard of such a thing.

“Like this,” said Lance, and leaned forward until he was right in Keith's face. Keith forgot about everything except those eyes. “I promise,” Lance said, very quietly. His breath hit Keith's lips and, before Keith could do anything, Lance pressed forward and pressed his mouth to Keith's. When he pulled away, Lance beamed at Keith. “There. Now I can't break it or mama will get mad.”

Keith stared at him, a little confused. He'd never seen his dad promise his mom anything in that way. Maybe it was a family thing. It made him feel strange, like he was happy and nervous and surprised all at the same time. His cheeks felt hot and they only grew hotter when the wheel jerked to a stop and he realised that they were at the bottom. Before he could make Lance move, the operator was jerking open the door and peering in at them – Lance was still leaned over him, one arm around him with Keith's pinky linked in his.

Whatever the feeling was, it was enough to give him a little extra strength when they went back to the game and won the shark.

**Author's Note:**

> (Keith calls Shiro 'Taka' cause he was 5 when he met the 10-15 year old.)
> 
> When they grow up they'll go through high school angst, then the annoyingly in love stage in college till they move in together and become an old married couple. Nothing bad happens. Everyone is happy. Except maybe Rolo who is still at that test of strength stall and _bored_.


End file.
